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Námofelá
Námofelá is the third largest island in the Republic of Soigá, at around 124 square km. However, it has a low population of around 1,700 inhabitants and thus a quite low population density of not more than 13.5 people per sq km. Námofelá is small, but has been in contemporary history important for Soigá. Spain has controlled this island, and the island is known for its nearly half Spanish and half Soigan population. It is also known for its Namofellan dialect, spoken by the Soigans living in Námofelá, a small dialect not spoken by more than a few hundred people often known as to be "alien". Etymology The term "Námofelá" is not first used for the island before the Hofátur-Bilenzú era (around the 1500s). Although becoming more and more archaic, the term Żeván (anglicised: Shevan) has also been used to refer to the island. The etymology of "Námofelá" is to this date not clear. First off, it is unclear whether it is decended from a person, and/or geographical area, of from a noun. In the mythical Firrobatist sagas written in the first millenium, there is spoken about an eastern island named "Mamomole" which would be the home of the Goddess of the Eastern Winds named "Mame". A common theory is that Námofelá is a corruption of Mamomole with the suffix "-felá" which means "it belonging to" or "it owned by". A different theory that is closely related to this is that the name "Námofelá" comes from the ancient Olfkin word for "wind", which is "nemesfél". The first "e" would have been corrupted to a "á", and the "s" would have been dissapeared due to the Olfkin Lengthening, a gradual process which occured over the centuries in which consonants near each other have been separated either because of a vowel placed in between them, or one of them dissapearing. The second "e" would have been replaced by an "ó", which had made the word in the dative according to supporters of the theory, which has been corrupted to a short "o" in the following centuries. The last "á" would have either come because of insertion to ease speaking, or to make the word be personal, as the suffix "á" is a common suffix for the First Class of words which often (historically) denote personal, or human "things" (alhtough proper nouns, either with or without á, are placed in the Third Class). Another common theory, which the inhabitants of the island often tell, and has been popularized in the 20th century, is that there was once a Greek named "Namos" who fled to the island in the Medieval Ages because he had discovered a technology which could change the world forever, and various kings wanted him to have the technology, if necessary torturing and killing him to get it. The story goes that Namos did not want to make this happen, and fled to the most isolated island he could get to. Námofelá had nearly no population during the Medieval Ages. Namos had hidden the script of his technology on the island, as he believed that the script would be unearthed on a time when the technology would be used for good purposes. Thus, the name "Námofelá" would mean "It belonging to Namos". The story as factual correct has been criticized by scientists, as they say it is epical in nature and would very likely be a myth, and question how the name would have come to exist if Namos was so sure about hiding it, and most scientists even disregard the theory as they say the story likely originates not long ago and would thus not suffice for explaining the name of the island. Despite this, many rogue "scholars" have digged around in Námofelá to find the script. Pronunciation difference The pronunciation of the name Námofelá differs from Devernese Olfkin (the standard version of Olfkin) to the dialect in Námofelá. Námofelá has namely a different stress rule, which bases the stress on which syllable on the letters in the word. In this dialect, the stress comes on the first syllable. In Devernese Olfkin, the stress in proper words (names, geographical areas, etc.) is always on the second syllable. Furthermore, in Devernese Olfkin, you speak words exactly as they are written (this is due to the great spelling reform in the 30's of the 20th century), so "á" denotes a long "a", "o" a short "o", etc. In the Námofellan dialect, the "á" is spoken as an "é", a "soft" "l" is placed before the "f" for speaking and the "e" is spoken as a schwa (as in English work'e'rs). The soft "l" is made by saying an "l" but gently letting your tongue reach your tooth ridge. History The island of Námofelá was periodically settled. Typical archeological ancient village sites have been found on the island, which are similar to such sites on the main island of Soigá. This means the earliest settlers of the island were likely ethnical Soigans as well. The earliest settled site in Námofelá is dated back to the 7rd century BC. Geography The island of Námofelá is about 124 sq km large, and ranks 183rd in Europe, while 3rd in the Republic of Soigá in size (after Soigá and Hitíká). Námofelá is on its closest point about 35 km away from the main island of Soigá. Its coast line about 545 km long. The island is marked by its "z" form, and has the nickname "La Zezá", with the "La" symbolizing the Spanish influence on the island. The island is at its thinnest (the place where the two opposite sea bodies are the closest to each other) just 1.2 km wide. Overall, from its most western point to its most eastern point is horizontally about 28 km, while from the most northern to most southern point vertically about 16 km. The island of Námofelá is believed to be the last remainder of a large island pattern from Soigá to Spain. The theory is that, with the sea level having been a lot lower in the Ice Age, a lot more land from the Soigan subshelf had been above sea level. Some scientists believe islands up to tens of thousands of sq km occured, with some connecting to Soigá. With the sea level increasing, these islands rapidly went under sea level. The believe is that Námofelá is the sole survivor of these islands. The argument to why Námofelá survived and the others not is that Námofelá is a quite rugged island, and thus possibly formed the part of the islands with an above average elevation. The highest point of Námofelá, the Fintičá, is 655 m high, although it was likely above the 800 m during the Ice Age. Námofelá has thus a rugged terrain because it sits on the mountain range of the previous islands. Politics In the Republic of Soigá, you have regions and municipalities as administrative divisions. The island of Námofelá is in the region of Čonmíjá, the largest region in Soigá by area. However, the island is not a separate municipality, mainly because government officials wanted, when the island was put in the municipality of Megódíjárid (the largest municipality by area), to make sure that the island of Námofelá would strongly be "implanted" in the country of Soigá, as the island had a rough recent past history. In recent years, more and more call for a separate municipality has appeared because of the unique culture and history of the island. If it would be a municipality, it would have the smallest population of any municipality. Economy The economy of Námofelá is small, understandable by looking at the population of the island. Unlike other parts of the country, the island had never relied on the agriculture sector. Instead, pasturing of sheeps and goats was likely, besides the storage of goods, the biggest part of the economy. Permanent populations did not occur before around the 1300's. The island's economy started to thrive during the Hofátur-Bilenzú era, in which the population of the island grew much more. The island then had population centers of more than 3,000 people. During the First Era of the Soigan Kingdom, the population, and thus probably the economy as well, grew to its max size. In the 19th century, the economy of the island took a sharp decline. Overall, the economy of Soigá had a profound decline in that century, but its effect were much worse on Námofelá. At the end of the century, the king Hálámír had sent "Catholic colonists" to the island, and camps for logging and pasturing were made. Although this provided a boost in the economy, it was only temporarily. The island was taken by the Nazies, and then given to Spain as a gift. Under the Spanish, the economy began growing, as more and more immigrants from Spain were coming to the island. This was due to the discovery of a substantial copper mine in the 50's. In the 70's, a large oil field up to 1 billion barrels was found somewhat east of the island. The economy was disrupted due to the communists of Soigá taking over the island after Franco's death, because Spain was in a transition state and thus could not respond properly. In 1979 the Soigan government officially purchased the western part of Námofelá, although Soigá claimed the eastern part of the island as well, just like Spain. In 2004 the problem was solved as Soigá purchased the other half, but the rights of the oil fields were shared. To this date, the GDP per capita is in Námofelá lower than the average of about 17,500 dollar, namely about 13,000 dollar. Demography Demographic centers There are only 7 demographic centers (city, village, hamlet etc.) on the island, of which Poltot is the largest with around 1000 or more than half of the population. The other demographic centers range in the order of 20 to 300. History and future of the population The first permanent settlers on the island arrived in the 14th century. They were mostly Northern Soigans, as DNA proves. The island had some large immigration between the 1500 and 1800, when the population was quite high (estimated at around 8,000 at its maximum). At the end of the 19th century, the population had declined to around 1,000 people. It was not before the 1950's before the island picked up growth again, this time mainly due to Spanish immigrants. It reached the 2,000 people in 1980, but since then has continually declined, with the population in 2016 being around 1,677 people. Around 15 Spaniards emigrate every year, mostly to Spain. It has predicted that in 2050 the percentage of Spaniards will be below the 20%, while the total population itself will not be more than 1,000. Ethnicity and language The island has a population of 1,677 people, of which around 40% are Spaniards and 60% Soigans. The Spanish are largely concentrated in the centre of the island and at the far east. Not so suprising, the language percentage is also around 40% Spanish and 60% Olfkin. In Námofelá, there is the Namofellan dialect, which is spoken by around 50% of the Soigan population (thus 30% of the total population). The dialect is one of the 8 dialects that have been recognized as separate dialects by the national language commitee of Soigá, and it has the fewest speakers of all these 8 dialects. The dialect has no clear connections to other dialects, and it often perceived as "alien" by other speakers of Olfkin. The dialect is characterised by its stress system based on the letters, it many additional sounds and its archaic grammar. Religion The island is largely Catholic (around 80%) but has a substantial Firrobatist minority, of around 15%. This Firrobatist community belongs to one of the most isolated communities in Soigá. Catholicism largely came to be a majority in the late 1800's to early 1900's, mostly due to King Hálámír's persecutions of religious minorities and the Catholic settlers. The Spanish immigrants to the island in the 1950's were also primarily Catholic. Category:Soigá